Chael Sonnen Open to Fights at 205; Wanted Rampage at UFC 130

If anyone has ever doubted Chael Sonnen’s sincerity when he says he’ll fight anyone, look no further than a request the middleweight contender made just a couple of months ago.

While Sonnen has been out of action since last August dealing with the fallout from a suspension stemming from a failed drug test at UFC 117, as well as time spent in the courtroom after being charged with Federal money laundering, the Oregonian has always had his eyes on the fight game.

“The thing about Chael is when he does all these interviews, and he sounds crazy when he says ‘I’ll fight any man God ever created.’ He’s telling the truth,” Sonnen’s manager, Mike Roberts of MMA Inc., told MMAWeekly Radio recently.

The proof of Sonnen’s willingness to fight anybody: when Thiago Silva was first pulled from his scheduled bout against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 130 in late May, it was Sonnen who immediately asked his manager to get him into that spot.

“When Rampage’s initial opponent went down before all this fiasco was going on, before Hamill stepped in to take the fight, when that went down I was with Chael and he was like ‘I’d love to fight Rampage.’ And I was like, ‘but you’re at 185-pounder’ and he was like, ‘I’d fight him in a heartbeat,'” Roberts revealed.

Sonnen actually spent a part of his career fighting at 205 pounds, and even told his management that if current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva decided to test the waters at light heavyweight again, he’d be just as happy to have their rematch at that weight.

“Fighting big fights at 205 would not be a problem for him,” Roberts commented.

Sonnen’s next fight will more than likely keep him in the middleweight division, but when super fights at different weight classes are mentioned in the future, consider Chael Sonnen on the list of fighters who would accept the challenge.

“(Chael said) whoever they think is the toughest guy, that’s the guy I want,” Roberts said.

Before any super fights come up, however, Sonnen is currently focused on fixing things with the Nevada State Athletic Commission so he can get back to the business of fighting.

Got something to say? Weigh in with a thought of your own in the comments section below.

Since Chael used to fight at LHW this is no surprise. The fact the he would take on Rampage is no surprise either. Chael would take him down over and over with almost no threat of submission. IMO that would have been a pretty easy fight for Chael (after seeing the Rampage/Evans fight).

phrankthetank

Rampage actually has very strong wrestling defense, he just looked like crap against Evans, over a year of ring rust and a 40 lb weight cut might have had something to do with it

Frye557

True, but I don’t think he’s faced a wrestler as good as Sonnen. Henderson was maybe his biggest test as far as that goes. I think if he were to fight Rashad again the exact same thing would happen.

bdono554

Dude Frye are you kidding me! Henderson is a better wrestler than the felon/cheater and Hendo doesn’t use drugs. What you saw against Sliva was an injured out of shape champ that still won! And now you want him to fight Rampage? Did you see the fight against Randleman? Sonnen isn’t even as good a wrestler as him and you saw how that went. Sonnen is an upper mid level talent that got on a hot streak at the right time and is trying to grab a headline cuz no one is paying attention to his whinny cheater felon ass! He would get crushed against Rampage… on second thought make it happen I would love to see it!

Frye557

I’m not saying Sonnen is a good wrestler because of the Silva fight, and listen, I hate the guy so I’m not rooting for him in any way. I’m saying he would take Rampage down over and over because of the Okami fight. That’s where I was pretty impressed, not vs Silva. And no I don’t want him to fight Rampage like you said, I said clearly, I think it would be a predictable easy fight for him. Truthfully, I would LOVE to see Rampage to ko him, just like I would have loved to see him knock out Evans. But just as I predicted the Evans Rampage fight, I would go with Sonnen on this one.

I’m not sure where you got the impression that I like Chael or I want this fight to happen from my post, but all I think is that Chael could take him down and frustrate/exhaust him just like he does with most of his opponents (who don’t have a good submission or wrestling game).

Frye557

In fact, I second your motion to make this fight happen! It’s a win win for me, either I’m right and Chael wins, or I’m wrong and I get to see Chael on the mat unconscious!

mmaxpert

I don’t know what you all have against Chael, he took it to Anderson Silva and you all are mad because of that? I don’t know the real story, he may have been taking PED’s but I see the potential in him. You think just because he took steroids that he isn’t a good fighter? If anyone thinks that, they are wrong. He’s probably not the best person in the world, but I respect his for the talent that he has. As long as he can go in and beat Anderson’s big head in like he did the last time, I will root for him to win.